❓ The Minister for Police outlines measures to improve road safety, particularly regarding drink-driving, including new legislation allowing immediate license suspension for BAC of .08 or higher. Heated debate ensues with interjections from the opposition.
AnsweredQoN 572Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ROAD SAFETY — DRINK-DRIVING
Will the minister outline to the house the measures this government is taking to improve road safety in Western Australia, particularly in the area of drink-driving? Mr R.F. JOHNSON
Will the minister outline to the house the measures this government is taking to improve road safety in Western Australia, particularly in the area of drink-driving? Mr R.F. JOHNSON
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for his question and his keen interest in trying to keep Western Australians alive and free from serious injuries. In 2009, just over one in three fatal crashes in Western Australia involved at least one driver who was over the legal 0.5 blood alcohol limit and around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involved drivers or riders — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Take a seat, please, Minister for Police. Member for Girrawheen, I know that you wanted to get on the list. You have been successful. You are on the list. I formally call you to order for the first time today. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: I thank the member for his question and his keen interest in trying to keep Western Australians alive and free from serious injuries. In 2009, just over one in three fatal crashes in Western Australia involved at least one driver who was over the legal 0.5 blood alcohol limit and around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involved drivers or riders — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Take a seat, please, Minister for Police. Member for Girrawheen, I know that you wanted to get on the list. You have been successful. You are on the list. I formally call you to order for the first time today. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
I thank the member for his question and his keen interest in trying to keep Western Australians alive and free from serious injuries. In 2009, just over one in three fatal crashes in Western Australia involved at least one driver who was over the legal 0.5 blood alcohol limit and around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involved drivers or riders — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Take a seat, please, Minister for Police. Member for Girrawheen, I know that you wanted to get on the list. You have been successful. You are on the list. I formally call you to order for the first time today. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
In 2009, just over one in three fatal crashes in Western Australia involved at least one driver who was over the legal 0.5 blood alcohol limit and around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involved drivers or riders — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Take a seat, please, Minister for Police. Member for Girrawheen, I know that you wanted to get on the list. You have been successful. You are on the list. I formally call you to order for the first time today. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Take a seat, please, Minister for Police. Member for Girrawheen, I know that you wanted to get on the list. You have been successful. You are on the list. I formally call you to order for the first time today. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
The SPEAKER : Order! Take a seat, please, Minister for Police. Member for Girrawheen, I know that you wanted to get on the list. You have been successful. You are on the list. I formally call you to order for the first time today. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: I thank the member for his question and his keen interest in trying to keep Western Australians alive and free from serious injuries. In 2009, just over one in three fatal crashes in Western Australia involved at least one driver who was over the legal 0.5 blood alcohol limit and around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involved drivers or riders — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Take a seat, please, Minister for Police. Member for Girrawheen, I know that you wanted to get on the list. You have been successful. You are on the list. I formally call you to order for the first time today. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
I thank the member for his question and his keen interest in trying to keep Western Australians alive and free from serious injuries. In 2009, just over one in three fatal crashes in Western Australia involved at least one driver who was over the legal 0.5 blood alcohol limit and around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involved drivers or riders — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Take a seat, please, Minister for Police. Member for Girrawheen, I know that you wanted to get on the list. You have been successful. You are on the list. I formally call you to order for the first time today. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
In 2009, just over one in three fatal crashes in Western Australia involved at least one driver who was over the legal 0.5 blood alcohol limit and around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involved drivers or riders — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Take a seat, please, Minister for Police. Member for Girrawheen, I know that you wanted to get on the list. You have been successful. You are on the list. I formally call you to order for the first time today. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! Take a seat, please, Minister for Police. Member for Girrawheen, I know that you wanted to get on the list. You have been successful. You are on the list. I formally call you to order for the first time today. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
The SPEAKER : Order! Take a seat, please, Minister for Police. Member for Girrawheen, I know that you wanted to get on the list. You have been successful. You are on the list. I formally call you to order for the first time today. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is a very serious issue. It is about saving lives and saving people from being critically injured on our roads. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : We can see just how much they are committed to this. Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Ms M.M. Quirk : Fewer people are being random breath tested. It is disgraceful. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
The SPEAKER : Order, member for Girrawheen! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : The member does not know her facts. We are doing more operations. As an aside, we have caught more people with our targeted operations than were ever caught under the Labor reign. As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
As I was saying, around 12 per cent of all fatal crashes in Western Australia involve drivers or riders with a blood alcohol content between .08 and .149—that is the BAC. It is a known fact that anybody who drinks and then gets into their vehicle and drives poses risk not only to themselves, but more importantly, I would suggest, to other road users—innocent ones. That is why today I have introduced legislation that will give police the powers to suspend any person’s licence when the driver registers a BAC of .08 or above. The police will be able to suspend the licence for two months. Too often in the past we have seen people who have registered over .08—even .15 and higher—get in their vehicle the next day and drive around willy-nilly, just as they see fit. We have seen too many times that before they reach court for the first offence they are caught again with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. I think members will find that once or twice in recent years, these people have been able to drive when they should not have been able to drive and people have been killed. It is fact that people with a BAC of .05 are two times more likely to crash, and people with a BAC of .08 are seven times more likely to crash; and that a BAC of .15 increases the probability of a crash 25 times. This is a serious issue. I am talking about not just the financial costs to the family or to the state—indeed, those costs are enormous—but the emotional costs to the families of the people killed on our roads. With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
With this legislation, we will stop people being able to choose to have a blood test rather than a breath test because as we have seen in the past too many people manipulate the legislation because they have been able to choose the doctor or nurse of their choice and by the time a blood sample is taken their blood alcohol content level has gone down, which means they get away with what I believe is a very serious crime on our roads. I call it a crime. It is a crime. We are taking away that option to choose unless of course the person has a medical condition that precludes them from being able to take a breath test. This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
This government’s commitment to the Towards Zero road safety strategy is very, very important and we will not shrink from that commitment. I have spoken to the road safety experts from not only WA and throughout Australia but also overseas, and they have said — Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : All the member ever does is carp! She really does—she carp, carp, carps! The member gets on the phone to her favourite radio reporters, she talks to newspaper reporters and she gives them a load of rubbish. The member knows that it is not true and, at the end of the day, they know that it is not true. I do not know why the media gives the member the time of day. Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I hope the member asks me a question today—I really do! I really hope that the member asks me a question. As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
As I was saying, international experts also agree with all our own experts that this legislation is very, very important to try to save lives on our roads and to try to save those people who are critically injured on our roads. It is legislation that we are committed to and we will see it through. It will be very, very interesting to see whether the opposition supports this legislation to save lives or whether it votes against it.
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